Former Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter will return to CNN after being ousted two years ago under the channel’s former leadership of then-boss Chris Licht.
“I am thrilled to share that I am returning as the lead author of CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter, the digest I founded in 2015,” Stelter said in his newsletter on Tuesday. “I’m returning to CNN in a brand new role as Chief Media Analyst, which means I’ll be appearing on air, developing digital content, and helming this newsletter.”
The media analyst admitted in his newsletter that he has “changed a lot” since his departure from the network. He said he went from living the Manhattan lifestyle to living at a horse farm. He discovered what news was like for the “everyday consumer” and is looking forward to sharing what he learned in his new role.
Before his departure, Stelter had spent his time at CNN attacking alleged “disinformation” of Fox News and Republicans while editorializing with an anti-Republican tone.
In 2017, Stelter told Kellyanne Conway, then-counselor to President Donald Trump, that parts of ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele’s dossier were “verified” and sparred with her about the legitimacy of the dossier.
The Steele dossier contained numerous allegations and conspiracies about connections between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. The report was paid for by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee. In 2019, the Robert Mueller investigation concluded that it could not find any criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the Trump campaign. In 2021, the Department of Justice charged Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst who worked on a dossier, with lying to the FBI after making unsubstantiated claims linking Trump to the Kremlin.
In 2020, Stelter questioned whether television networks should opt to turn away from Republican National Convention coverage in 2020 to avoid “disinformation” being shared with viewers.
“SHOULD TV NETWORKS AIR RNC IN FULL?” @BrianStelter advanced rationale for nets not to: “Television nets are going to have interesting choices to make…about whether to cut away if there’s this stream of disinformation happening live.” Promises CNN will cut in w/ “fact checks. pic.twitter.com/7GBgDSdiaI
— Brent Baker
(@BrentHBaker) August 23, 2020
Stelter spun the Hunter Biden laptop emails story in October 2020 as an anti-Biden narrative that was manufactured and pushed the possibility that it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
October, 2020. Brian Stelter does an entire segment on how a fake news story is crafted.
“Manufacturing a storyline.” From Russia to TV, by Brian Stelter.
The story that Stelter was calling fake? The Hunter Biden laptop story.
pic.twitter.com/f1H1D3sD9o
— MAZE (@mazemoore) September 4, 2024
The television host also encouraged porn star Stormy Daniels’s attorney Michael Avenatti to be a presidential candidate against Trump.
“I don’t know if it’s a good thing that star power and TV savvy is required for the job, but I think it is … .and looking ahead to 2020, one reason why I’m taking you seriously as a [presidential] contender is because of your presence on cable news,” Stelter told Avenatti on air.
Stelter has acknowledged that his commentary has led to mockery among the “Fox universe” in calling him “Humpty Dumpty” and has been called “spud,” which likens him to a human potato.
Stelter was an ally of Licht’s predecessor, Jeff Zucker, who had made the news organization take an anti-Trump bent. Licht stepped down in 2023.
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The former Reliable Sources host is returning after CNN’s senior media reporter Oliver Darcy abruptly left the network at the beginning of August.
He will return to CNN on Sept. 9. Stelter had previously been the media reporter for the New York Times and editor of TVNewser.
